Fallen Dreams
by Arizona Rob
Summary: Ivy "falls" into trouble when the hot new guy drives her to go against her better judgement in an attempt to capture Carmen. Where will she stop when it comes to revenge?
1. Chapter 1

**EDIT: Don't own em, unless somebody wants to give em for my b-day!**

**December 3, 1999**

**17:50**

"Heeeeeeiiiiiiiiiyyyyaaahhh!"

Nineteen-year-old Zack Darren cringed in pain as he was thrown yet again across the training mat. He flopped over on the mat with a prolonged groan. He gingerly opened his eyes, and found himself flat on his back, looking up at the vaulted ceiling of the gym. As he slowly sat up, his opponent walked over to him with a wide grin on her handsome face. The vibrant red-head stooped down and ran her fingers through Zack's longish dirty blonde hair, tousling it even more.

"Nice try, Little Bro! Next time, remember to duck when you come back around," she smiled at him semi-apologetically.

The girl, Ivy, 22, was not only Zack's older sister, his sparring partner today, but was his long-time co-worker at ACME Detective Agency as well. They were both Junior Detectives at the Agency, and though Ivy was finally being promoted, leaving Zack with another Junior partner to work with on missions, they still worked together as much as possible.

"Thanks for the warnin', Sis," he replied ruefully, and rubbed the back of his neck gently. "You coulda let me know what was comin'! Geez!"

Ivy smirked down at him before giving him her hand to help him get up. "Now what would be the fun in that, huh?"

Zack grabbed her hand roughly and she pulled him up. "Thanks," he said, turning toward the locker rooms, ready to call it a day. "I'm gonna hit the showers, Sis. I've had enough for today. Tatiana and I will meet you later for dinner," he started trudging off in the direction of lockers, showers, and freedom from Ivy's well known over-training in the gym.

"Umm, okay? Are you all right Zack? You wanna meet again tomorrow morning for training?" Ivy wrinkled her brow in Zack's direction, unsure of what she should do next. He did not usually give up so easily, and she wondered what was different today.

Zack grunted a reply until he realized that he was about to be stuck training on another Saturday morning. "Uhh, sorry, Ivy. I already told Josha that I would meet him tomorrow afternoon for Krav Maga. My day is pretty much booked tomorrow as it is. Maybe some other time," he shrugged regretfully, and turned back around and headed into the locker rooms, but not before tossing a "See ya Sis!" back over his shoulder.

"Boys! Humph. Whatever," she dismissed his 'busyness' as simple laziness. After all, what could be more important than his spending quality time with his big sis, despite the fact that he was gonna get his butt kicked? "Oh, well," she thought, "I'll just have to get Tatiana in here tomorrow. She can take as well as dish it out! Boys. Good grief!"

**December 5, 1999**

**13:35**

"Mercedes. Black. Newer edition, presumed '97 version. The driver, white male, aged mid-twenties, was seen dropping off a certain package near the crime scene, and then he left in the opposite direction in which he came, headed west toward Frisco Bridge," the Chief paused for dramatic effect, but Zack whispered to his new partner Tatiana that he was sure it was for loss of breath. She smiled at him momentarily, and then continued taking notes on this new case being assigned to their group.

"We had the 'package' run through the lab, and the boys in genetics said it was close to our girl's DNA, however, it was also belonging to a male . . .sooooo, unless Carmen had a sex change, we have found a male relative of hers. Now here is where I want you to pay attention cadets," the Chief turned his head in all directions, looking each member of the reconnaissance team in the eyes, each in turn before going on. "The contents of the package are not only what is going to finally blow this or rather _these_ cases wide open," he said, referring to the dozens upon dozens of grand larceny cases involving or suspectedly orchestrated by Carmen Sandiego, "No, the real kicker is going to be the look on Carmen's face in the courtroom when her own _SON_ testifies against her!" The Chief glanced around the room at the flabbergasted looks on the faces of his best squad. It was the response he was hoping to illicit. _"Maybe now someone will have the incentive to find this guy and get him in for questioning," _he thought to himself._ "It was easy enough with the henchmen . . . but Carmen's own son? Who knows how hard this is going to be? I sure hope they are up to the job."_

**15:20**

Ivy's mouth was still hinged open at this news a few hours after the Chief broke it to them. She, her partner and "boyfriend" Josha, Zack, and Zack's partner Tatiana were all gathered in their small basement-level corner conference room, discussing ways to go about finding this guy, or at least finding out more about him. They were going through the contents of the package, searching for some kind of clue that would lead them yet again to Carmen Sandiego.

"This seems to be nothing more than a calling card from Carmen," Josha was in the process of saying when Ivy finally tuned back in. "She is trying to 'up the stakes' as it were, and using her own son to lure us into another one of her cat-and-mouse games. However, I do not know in which way we are to go from here."

Ivy reached for the packet, arranging the contents methodically, and listened to the others in the group respond to Josha's comment.

"I agree with Josha," Tatiana replied quietly, her Russian inflections barely observable over her exaggerated American pronunciations. "But, it is not like Carmen to let one of her men get caught purposely, she continued, "I understand that this man was obviously not apprehended, and it would have been simple to capture him, had we been on our toes in the surveillance division. But what was the point of using him rather than anyone else other than to get our attention? I think we are looking at this from the wrong perspective."

_"What does a keycard, a bobby-pin, three white pebbles, and a TR963 optic lens with projection binocular scope have in common?" _Ivy thought to herself. She kept arranging them in peculiar orders, drawing curious looks from the others ever once in a while, but kept examining each article until things began to fall into place in her mind, all while listening to the others ponder about the logical connections between each article in the package and the specific implications of the usage of each.

"What about the keycard?" Zack suddenly said, looking intently at the item Ivy held in her hand. "It clearly goes to something," he peered closer at the writing on the face of the card, and being the language wiz that he was, blurted out, "But what is that kind of card used for in Southwest Thailand?"

The entire group looked around at each other a moment before shouting simultaneously, "BANKS!" and laughing together at the break they just made. Josha and Zack both jumped away from the table, ready to go take the keycard to the computer lab to decipher the cryptogram within the barcode. Tatiana reluctantly rose from her chair, and headed off to the language department where she would have the face of the keycard translated. Ivy smiled to herself at their enthusiasm. She wished she shared it. As she leaned back in her chair, watching them all file down the corridor towards their respective destinations, she sighed audibly, realizing that something just didn't sit right with her on this case. Carmen was never this obvious on anything she did. Especially when it came to her son, which was apparent in the fact that they hadn't found out about him until now. This just didn't feel like Carmen.


	2. Chapter 2

**December 8, 1999**

**16:45**

Bangkok, Thailand. Home of seven million people. Virtually improbable to find a person who doesn't want to be found. And with only one clue to go on, definitely impossible. The keycard was one of hundreds of thousands issued by the Bank of Thailand, and only led to box number 00-29, which turned up empty. Zack was obviously disappointed that his hunch ended up as a dead end. He and Tatiana returned empty handed. Ivy, however, was a bit more interested in the case when they returned to ACME Headquarters and told her the news.

"What! I mean, are you kidding me!" Ivy practically yelled at Zack when he told her the news. She lowered her voice when someone outside her small office peered in her doorway. She motioned for Zack to close the door, before continuing excitedly, "What the crap is the deal Bro!"

"Jeez, Ivy!" he replied, baffled at her appearing enraged over what was normally termed a 'smaller' thing. "Get a grip! It's not the first time we followed a bad lead. You know sometimes it isn't so obvious. So why are you freakin' out?"

"Little Bro! Don't you get it! I'm not freakin' out except for the fact that this just puts us one step closer to getting Carmen! We have the evidence that the person concocting this wanted us to find! There wasn't supposed to anything in the account box. Try out the number," she smiled at him when he looked at her strangely, before continuing, "On the account. It is a code for something. Go figure it out. I'm gonna work on the other stuff that was in the envelope, and try to profile this guy in the meantime."

Zack looked at her strangely again, before turning to leave. "How did you know about the account meaning something?" he asked before exiting through her office door. "It would have saved us an extremely long plane ride if you had just told us before!"

Ivy shuffled around the file on her desk, clearly not sure how to answer his question. "It just came to me Bro," she began, clearly grasping for straws. She now knew that Carmen's son was behind this little escapade that they were working on, but she had yet to figure out why. And she wasn't willing to tell anyone without concrete evidence. "It reminded me of that time in Switzerland where we got the pass-codes for several accounts, and they were all worthless. They were just code for something else . . . remember?" She hoped he bought it . . . it was partially true after all.

"Oh . . . uh, yeah. I remember. Good thinking, Ivy," he smiled as he opened the door and began to leave. "The Apollo statue. Who could forget? Anyways, I'll get this to the comp lab. Catch ya later!"

Ivy smiled a bit sadly to herself. It was too easy. No wonder Carmen did it all the time. She looked back down at the file, concentrating on the surveillance photo of the man now termed as 'Carmen's son'. What in the world had he to do with this was still what baffled her. _"Was he trying to get his own mother captured?" _she wondered. It was the only valid explanation that came to her mind when she thought about it. And the more she thought about it, the more she was determined to find some answers.

**January 1, 2000**

**01:30**

_Standing by myself, _

_My back to the wall,_

_All alone,_

_Avoiding one more dagger from trusting,_

_Fragments of my heart, _

_Torn from the pain, thrusting _

_My hearts in pieces, _

_Broken from not rushing into your arms,_

_Crushed from staying away._

_I want to be left alone, all alone_

_All alone with you_

_All alone with you_

_I'd rather have confinement solitary_

_Than put my heart on the chopping block again_

_So lonesome without your love_

_Serenaded the wall_

_Waited for your call_

_Deserted_

_Except for the memory of you_

Ivy covered her ears against the blaring stereo in Zack's downtown Washington DC apartment. She was still there, not willing to leave because this was the last time she would see her brother for six months. She was being transferred to the Paris branch of ACME, her life long dream now being accomplished. She was going to be a successful spy, living in the most beautiful city in the world! But she was still going to miss her 'Little Bro' something awful. But it wasn't enough to keep her at this lame party any longer. She just didn't understand his choice of music. It was depressing. And it reminded her of a certain someone . . .

"Oh law! I have to get outta here!" she thought to herself, avoiding the reminiscent feelings that were sure to come on soon. "Zack!" she yelled, trying to be heard over the music. "Zack! I'm leavin'! Where are you Lil' Bro!" She walked through the crowds of her co-workers still dancing and celebrating the New Year, into the kitchen where they were mixing drinks for midnight. She spied Zack and Tatiana getting a little too 'happy' with the vodka. "Oh law! Zack! What are you doing?" she yelled just as the song stopped playing in the living room.

"Geez Ivy! Think you could be any louder! I think the Chief coulda heard that!" Zack frowned at Ivy. She was getting more and more frustrated as the seconds ticked away.

"Well, I just came to tell you I was leaving. And it is about time you turned the cruddy music off anyways!" she smarted off back at him. The surprised look on the faces of the others in the room told her that she was about to go too far. She took a deep breath, and tried to straighten out her thoughts. Zack hadn't been the only one drinking, and it was starting to tell.

"Ivy, you had too much to drink, huh?" Zack was smirking at Ivy's unusual bad attitude. "Sorry you gotta leave Sis, but maybe it's a good thing."

"Yeah, Zack. I don't think I need to be around anyone right now anyway. I think I'll get Josha to take me to the airport early. Have you seen him?" she looked around in the crowds, knowing Josha would be the one, keeping the keys, and calling the designated drivers. She spotted him fending off a group of intoxicated females, who normally were very reserved around the guys in the office. _"Funny how booze'll change a person completely." _she thought to herself. "I'll see you around, Bro," she said over her shoulder to Zack, knowing that he was bound to come see her before she left in a few hours for Paris.

"Later, Sis. I'll be around to see you off when we get everyone outta here," he told her, looking around at the now dwindling throng, and then looking at his watch. 1:45am. "What time's your plane leave?"

Ivy thought for a moment. "I think it leaves at eight. But I'm gonna get Josha to help me finish packing and then take me over to the airport. I figured I'll have plenty of time to sleep on the plane." She started out the door, with Josha grabbing her keys, so she couldn't drive. She smiled up at him before turning back to yell back in the kitchen, "You better come see me Zack! Bye!" and she walked out the door.

Josha took her hand gently in his and led her down the street toward her car. Ivy could tell he had something on his mind, because he was unusually quiet. Practically mute, in fact. Ivy had a funny feeling in her stomach, and was about to enlighten him to this fact, when he suddenly piped up with, "So Ivy, when are you going to be back in the states?"

"Josha, we have been over this a zillion times already," she slurred, now getting a slight headache from walking so fast. "What are you getting at?"

"I was just wondering," he replied, slightly frowning. "You are a mean drunk, you know it?"

Ivy laughed at this remark, and then frowned. He wasn't the only one to have told her that. _"Maybe I should quit drinking,"_ she thought, slightly hurt. _"Or maybe not. What is the matter with Josha? It can't be that bad"_

Josha looked at her funnily, like he had something he was waiting to say to her, but she wasn't in the right state of mind to take it. "Ivy, I want to ask you something," he began, thinking that if he just got it out in the open, it wouldn't be so hard to take, "You know how we've been kinda dating for about a year now? Well, except for when you were working here in DC over the last part of summer break," he stopped, realizing that he was about to go off topic, and then he rushed into his next words, in a hurry to get it over with, "Ivy, willyoumarryme?"

Ivy stopped dead in her tracks, suddenly sober. She looked up into Josha's slightly red face, with a questioning look. "What?"

Josha took a deep breath, and enunciating each word, repeated, "Ivy, will you marry me?" And then seeing the shocked look on her face, he continued, "I know this seems out of the blue, but I have been planning to ask you for a while now, even before you were transferred. But the timing just never was right. I had to ask you now before you left, so . . ."

Ivy kept staring at him with her mouth wide open. She snapped out of it when Josha stopped talking and looked at her as if he expected something. _"Oh crap! He wants an answer now! Oh thanks a lot Josha! Great timing!"_ she thought to herself, before smiling coyly at him and walking on towards her car, ignoring the startled look on his face.

"Ivy!" Josha rushed after her "IVY! Where are you going?" He stopped her as she grabbed the handle to her car door. She spun around, laughing as he sputtered about an answer.

"I'm going to Paris!" she said, and laughed again, as she started running to her car. "Josha, I figure, since it took you this long to ask, it would only be fair to let YOU wait some time for an answer!" she turned her back to him and reaching her car, unlocked the door, and was about to open it, when Josha wrapped his arms around her waist, and bent over her shoulder.

"Ivy Darren! Will you marry me or not?" he whispered into her ear. He hugged her closer, and propped his chin in the crook of her neck, waiting for an answer. Ivy thought it was funny that he was now holding her in place, preventing her from moving without giving him a response.

"Josha, I have to go to Paris. You realize that if I was to say yes, it would change nothing," she whispered to his reflection in the car window, "I still have to go."

Josha spun her around to where they were now face to face, and he bent down until they were inches apart. She could feel his warm breath dance across her face, and it tingled against her cold cheeks. "Ivy, I know that you still have to go; that's why I asked you now. Because I love you, and I want you to have a reason to come back."

"But I already have plenty of reasons to come back!" she huffed. "I have Zack, and ACME and you, and my family, and. . ." she trailed off when he bent down closer and placed his mouth over hers, lightly at first, then as she responded to him, he pushed deeper until she had to pull away for loss of breath. She smirked up at him, "Well, that's another reason I have to come back. So, yes, Josha. You have convinced me that I cannot live without you and I must marry you or I will die of . . ." she searched for something to fill in the end of that sentence, but stopped when she noticed Josha a little perturbed. "What?" she laughed.

"Are you taking this seriously?" he questioned.

"Of course I am. I wouldn't be joking if I didn't take it seriously," she replied, and arched her eyebrow at his questioning look

Josha smiled down at her, thinking to himself that it was a bit strange that he could love her even when she was incredibly stupid, like now.

Ivy's widening grin answered his question. He hugged her tightly to his chest and gently kissed her forehead. "Let's go get you finished packing, Ivy," he said. "The sooner you get there, the sooner I can come see you."

Ivy laughed lightly at his backwards logic. _"Men in love! Jeez!"_ she thought to herself.

**07:30**

The color red was the leading blessing and curse in Ivy's life. This color caught the attention of all passers-by, benefiting Ivy in her line of work (endlessly chasing after Carmen Sandiego), but hindered her in her desire for unrecognition at times. One of those times being now.

She had made her emotional goodbyes to Josha, and then to Zack. She was now staring at the reflections in the massive glass panes that overlooked the departing planes. She was attempting to ignore the glances that her shoulder-length flaming red hair attracted from the passing travelers. The more she tried to ignore them, the more they seemed to bore into her back like daggers. It might not have bothered her so much, but her mind was uneasy when she flew on missions. She just couldn't get over the enormity of the planes, or the expanse that she had to cover in them. Yes, the fearless Ivy Darren was afraid of flying.

However, even that fled from her mind at this point, for one pair of curious eyes had not wandered on with the rest of the crowds. She could feel their continued presence, and the uneasiness that followed surged through her body, eventually finding its way to her neck muscles. The muscles tightened into her readied position of fleeing or fighting, which in her case, usually meant the latter.

Her bright green eyes meticulously scanned the reflections, eventually finding the pair of eyes that had been studiously fixed on her for the past half-hour. She sighed heavily, and frowned darkly at the reflection, despite her usual cool headedness, for the owner of the curious eyes was someone, unfortunately, who she knew all too well . . .


	3. Chapter 3

**06 June 1999**

**10:25**

"Those eyes. Never before have I seen such eyes," Ivy brooded, cupping her chin firmly with her free hand. She was staring surreptitiously in the direction of the 'new guy' while half-heartedly typing up a report with her other hand.

He was just another ordinary transfer on paper, with no outstanding merits to speak of, but he was extraordinary to behold. At least in Ivy's opinion. She smiled to herself. She was going to enjoy training this one.

**13:40**

She was still thinking on this later that day in the board room while the entire team was being formally introduced to the new recruit. This seemed to involve listing off his entire dossier, or so she thought. So Ivy sat there, trying to look as bored as the rest of her co-workers so obviously were, while in the meantime, she took notes on his dossier, and memorized his 'eye-catching' features.

Her favorite part of this Rob Edwards was his deep, yet unassuming soft brown eyes. They were not quite hazel, but were more of a mellowed out milky chocolate color. The more she stared, the harder it was not to start drifting away into the nether regions of her heart, places she dare not go, even in her darkest dreams. She was certainly not going to add Rob to this list.

She moved on, focusing now on his hair. It looked nice enough. Not quite what she liked in her men, but the soft, wavy, almost nappy look to his dusky blonde hair gave him an adorable puppy dog look about him. It was cropped close, in an off-handed sort of way. But for the curl of it, his hair would have stood straight up, for it lay in no to her general direction at all. Despite its strange styling, Ivy decided that she liked his hair.

His hair just went so well with his luscious ivory skin tone. His slightly rounded cheeks were almost unnoticeably tinted with an ever so delicate pinkish tone, until they fluctuated when he was being praised by the Chief for one of his greater accomplishments. Ivy smiled gently. "How cute," she thought. "He blushes easily."

She continued to observe as his peachy-pink lips widened into a half-way grin, with his full lower lip slightly protruding. She smiled to herself in return, but stopped immediately and looked down at her legal pad when she realized that Rob was smiling AT HER! "Crap it!" she screamed inside her head. "How long has he noticed me staring! And when, in the name of all that is holy, did the Chief stop talking!"

The Chief cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed at Ivy's obvious fixation, and continued his welcome speech. "Anyways," he addressed the rest of the crew, "Mr. Edwards here will make a fine addition to our little crime fighting family here at ACME! And, to insure this fact, I will be placing Rob here," he gestured in Rob's direction, and then looked across the table at Ivy, who was now glued to her notes, not looking up, nor paying any attention to the Chief's words. "With our best agent," he continued. "Ivy Darren."

"Huh?" Ivy looked up from her legal pad for a moment, slightly puzzled as to why she was being called on.

The Chief rolled his eyes, becoming exasperated. "While it may not seem like it right now, Ivy is one of our best agents. She will be your field partner for the time being, and will show you around headquarters. That is, if she ever gets her head out of the clouds today.

**26 June 1999**

**08:15**

Ivy was staring yet again. However, today it was only at her laptop, or into her cup of coffee, or out the window of her favorite cafe in Seattle. She was on her first mission with Rob as her partner. They were in Seattle on the trail of yet another Sandiego henchman. ACME had received several tips leading them to believe that the Seattle Space Needle was in danger of being part of a major heist.

So there she sat, waiting for Rob to finish ordering his coffee and come join her. She looked up occasionally, scanned the room for anything out of the ordinary, and then went back to staring at her laptop screen, which showed the monitoring camera feedbacks. She yawned tiredly, "Nothing so far. I hate the waiting part!"

Rob finally got his caramel macchiato the way he liked it, and strolled over to join Ivy at their table. He sat down across from her and smiled wearily, "No signs yet, huh?"

She shook her head. "I have a feeling were gonna be here all day once again."

Rob sighed quietly and stretched back in his chair, trying to get comfortable. "Well, since we are going to be here for a while yet, we might as well get better acquainted, Ivy."

Ivy sipped her coffee while nodding her ascent. "What do you want to know, Rob?" she asked as she carefully set down her cup. "I know a lot about you already, from our update meeting at headquarters."

Rob smiled slightly. "You are probably right, Ivy. They did talk an awful lot about me then. It bored even me."

She laughed at this, and then slightly blushed at the memory of her embarrassment that day. "Well, that leaves me then. So, what is it you wanted to know?"

"Hmm . . . to start with, where are you from?" He leaned forward on the pretense of picking up his cup and tried not to look over eager.

"Well, if you think you really want to know." She saw him nod again, so she proceeded to tell him the more interesting parts of her life. "I am from Connecticut originally and I have a brother, perhaps you have met him, Zachary Darren. We moved out here to California about five years ago with our parents and I joined ACME as an after-school kinda thing, but when I finished high school early, it turned into a career thing. So here I am, wasting my life, chasing after retarded criminals who won't catch the hint that they are never going to get away with their stupid plans." She smiled sadly down into her coffee, her countenance becoming darker than her double espresso mocha latte. She mumbled mostly to herself, "Going to college seems like such a waste now. All that time spent worrying about grades and majors and whatnot, and now I'm stuck in a job that I'll never get out of." Ivy sighed heavily, and looked up at Rob, who was waiting for her to continue, now with a somewhat concerned look on his handsome face. "What about you, Rob?" she asked, looking down at the computer screen again, trying to brush it all off. "What made you decide to join ACME? The retirement plan?"

Rob laughed appropriately at her sarcasm, knowing how right she truly was. ACME had a six foot retirement box just waiting for him. "Not exactly," he replied. "It was the glamorous lifestyle, the girls, the extensive travel . . ."

"HA HA!" she interrupted him, now giggling almost hysterically at his response. "Surely you can't be serious! With ACME?"

He nodded gravely, his broad jaw growing taught at her reaction. "And what is wrong with that," he posed, wondering what her response was going to be now. She just seemed to be so full of surprises. Or maybe caffeine.

"Oh I am so sorry!" she blushed deeply, her face turning the color of her hair. "I thought you were joking! I didn't . . .uhhh . . . yeah" she stopped suddenly, and looked around the room, and at the computer again, anywhere but at Rob, whose face was now turning slightly red in turn, but only because he was starting to laugh at her. His usually very serious face now broke into a wide grin, and his broad chest started heaving, wracked in laughter.

"Ahhh!" she cried, frustrated at his not-so-funny joke. She wadded up her napkin and hurled it at Rob's face. "I can't believe you!"

Rob ducked, effectively dodging the paper missile, and kept laughing at her. "You know, you should be more careful when you make comments, Ivy!" he continued chuckling.

"Okay, fine then." She smiled back at him, not really minding his little joke so much, after having seen his gorgeous face non-serious for once. "But, seriously, what else do I need to know about you, Rob?"

"Hmmm . . . well, what's not on my dossier?" he thought for a moment. "I was born in Indonesia on my mother's trip overseas to see my father, who was on a business trip at the time. I grew up with my dad, because my parents divorced when I was two. Although my dad was from Scotland originally, we never lived there, but instead I lived with him all over Southeast Asia until I turned 14 and had to be sent off to boarding school and then off to college after that."

Ivy smiled at his obvious pride in his childhood, "That's pretty neat, Rob! Was it just you and your dad living in Asia?" she asked. "Do you have any siblings or anything?"

Rob looked somewhat uncomfortable at that question, and looked down at the table while he answered quietly, "No. No siblings that I lived with. But I had a monkey though. Loved that monkey."

Ivy arched her eyebrow. It was obvious that he was hiding something about the fact that he didn't have the normal family. "A monkey?" she began, trying to get him to spill his secrets, "No one else?"

Rob frowned at her. He could see her feeling around for answers. _"Might as well tell her. It might work out in my favor eventually, if nothing else,"_ he reasoned. "Since you are so determined to find out about this, I think I could save you quite a lot of time and not skirt around the issue. I know how curiosity can get the best of agents. Yes, I did have siblings, at least one that I know of, a sister. But she lived with my mother after the divorce, and I never continuously lived with her for long."

Ivy reached across the table and laid her hand across his. "I'm sorry if you think I was snooping. You opened the door, and I went in. I do that a lot. Sorry."

Rob stroked her hand for a minute absentmindedly before gently removing it from his. He seemed to be trying to fighting off his less happy childhood memories. He sat up straight, and shook his head breaking the reverie, and then replied, "Yes, I know Ivy. You needn't apologize. But, it is a sore subject though, so we can talk about something else." He sighed and looked at his watch. It was about time something happened. This was about to get old.

"Well, okay. If you don't want to talk about it," Ivy said, understanding him completely. After a minute or two of checking the incoming surveillance transmissions, she her curiosity got the better of her, despite his uncomfortableness. She pushed the point, "What is her name? At least tell me that."

Rob laughed and shook his head at her agent's instinct. He knew that she would look up his sister up later, just out of her curiosity. "Her name is Cassandra. I called her Cassie. And I haven't seen her in almost ten years, and I'm not looking to right now. Please don't interfere with anything. I know how girls can be. It isn't worth it."

Ivy nodded her ascension, as her pants started buzzing. She jumped out of her chair. "Oh crap!" she cried, and then was once again embarrassed. Her cell phone had been on silent, and now was insisting she answer. "Sorry, it's the Chief. I have to take this," she stated before walking over to the window to answer.

He smiled back and nodded, as Ivy turned away to go take her call. He sighed in relief, and slumped in his chair. _"Wow, she sure knows how to work 'em"_ he thought to himself as he observed her hollering back at the Chief, his information obviously not making her happy. He frowned though, when he thought of how she had used her skills on him as well, weeding out semi-personal information that he would have rather kept to himself._ "She did have a point, though,"_ he frowned deeper as he stared at her back while she continued her argument on the phone. _ "I did start the conversation. And it won't happen again."_

Ivy slammed her fist against her thigh as she hung up on the Chief. "Gahh!" she cried and then winced at the pain she inflicted upon her leg. She stalked back over to the table and plopped back down in her chair with a heavy sigh. "Well this is just great!" she exasperated. "Chief says our informant was," here she held her hands up in exaggerated air quotes, "uh. . . 'misinformed' and we have been sitting here for two days for no reason!" She leaned back in her seat and gritted her teeth. "I hate wasting time!" Rob leaned his head back and laughed. Ivy glared across the table at him. "How can you laugh at something like that?" she spat out through clenched teeth.

"I just don't sweat the small stuff," he replied quietly. "I like to think of it as time off from mountains of paperwork in the office, and getting paid to take time off to have coffee with my new partner and get to know her better."

She sighed, knowing he was right. It really wasn't worth worrying about. "Sorry. You have a good point. And if the Chief wasn't so anal, we could sit here and continue talking about all your other good points. However, he wants us back at HQ immediately."

Rob helped her finish gathering up the equipment and then, as they walked to the elevator together, he offered her his arm.

"Why thank you, sir!" she smiled, taking his arm and walking into the elevator with him.

"My pleasure, miss." he replied. "Anytime"

**19 July 1999**

**18:50**

"Crank it up, Zack!" Ivy hollered at him over the already loud boom box blaring Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby'.

"What?" he yelled back, then grinned at her gesturing at her gesturing for him to turn it up, and nodded his head in ascent.

They were in Ivy's uptown San Francisco apartment, cooking up a storm for their dinner party. It was a biannual affair, but was usually concocted on a spur of the moment whim, when the crew started getting restless. Only a few of their closest friends had shown up, and right then, as Zack cranked up the music, they were helping with the preparations. Josha and Tatiana were rockin' out in the dining room while they set the table, and both laughed unexpectedly at the next song that came on. 'The Sign' by Ace of Base brought back a lot of childhood memories, and they both congratulated Zack on his excellent taste in music when he joined them in the dining room.

Ivy laughed at their silly antics to the music, while she began doing it herself. She danced over to the refrigerator, pulled the wine out of the cooler, and waltzed into the dinning room with it, and handed it to Josha, who was setting out the ice bath. He smiled at her while he took it, and then took her hand and waltzed back into the kitchen with her. They both collapsed in fits of laughter onto the barstools.

"Not bad, Josha!" Ivy laughed, slowly standing back up, and walking back over to the stove. "I never knew you could waltz to 'Rollercoaster of Love'!"

He grinned sheepishly, "I don't do it very often. Only on special occasions." He walked over to the stove, and wrapped his arm around Ivy's shoulders, "Only with you Ivy." He then bent over one of the steaming pans and took a big whiff. "Smells good!" he commented, while avoiding Ivy's somewhat stunned look.

"It sure does," another voice came from behind them, interrupting their little moment, much to Ivy's relief, and Josha's chagrin. Ivy spun around quickly and smiled broadly at the new visitor to her apartment. Rob stood there with a casserole dish in his hands and an unsure look on his face, which was quickly replaced with a slight smile in response to Ivy's.

"Why Rob!" Ivy cried sweetly, "When did you get here? Did Zack let you in?" She walked over to him, took the dish from him and set it on the countertop carefully, before turning back to him and giving him a friendly hug. He responded warmly to it, nearly causing her to lose her breath.

"Yeah. Zack let me in after I banged on the door for a while. I think it was between songs or something.

Now it was Ivy's turn to look slightly embarrassed. Not only for Rob having to stand outside for longer than necessary, but also because Josha was now staring strangely at the both of them. She let go of Rob suddenly, realizing that they were still hugging. "Sorry!" she forced out, trying to laugh it off. "Ummm . . . thanks for the casserole! What is it?" she stepped back, putting several feet between them.

"It's scalloped potatoes. Nothing all that fancy. I just hope it goes with what you are making," he smiled hopefully, and looked past her to the stove where Josha still stood, absentmindedly stirring various dishes, and occasionally watching their strange interactions.

"Oh yes, it will be fine, I'm sure," she replied, and walked over to the stove where Josha stood and took the spoon that he handed her, saying, "Thanks Josha. Does it look ready?"

"I suppose it is," he replied, looking a little happier now that she wasn't so friendly with Rob right then.

"Well good. Then let's get it on the table then, shall we?" She took a pot off the stove and turned all the burners off before turning back to talk to Rob. "And Rob," she asked, "Would you do me a favor?"

He nodded. "What do you need?"

She wanted to shout, "You!" but thought it better to just reply, "Tell Zack to turn down the stereo, would you? We're about to eat."

"Okay," he replied, and went to do her bidding, exiting into the living room where Zack was attempting to dance with Tatiana.

Ivy thought she saw a slight twinge of disappointment in his face about something. _"Probably just unhappy that I didn't give him something more important to do. Men. Ha ha."_ Though she laughed about it to herself, the more she thought about it that night as they ate together, hung out, and relaxed, the more, deep down, she wished it was something more.


End file.
